The road to Rancho Santa Fe

“I believe – and this may sound corny – music is a gift from God, and what better place to celebrate that than in a place of worship?” said Bill Weber, longtime Rancho Santa Fe resident and San Diego Symphony Board of Directors member. Weber played an instrumental role in bringing the San Diego Symphony to the Sanctuary at the Village Church for the first time.

The Village Church invited the Symphony to perform in its intimate Sanctuary space, which seats 500 patrons. Guests experienced this world-renowned orchestra in their own backyard on April 8. While the Symphony regularly performs at its two venues: the Jacobs Music Center and Embarcadero Marina Park South, it rarely travels to outside venues as an entire orchestra. This made it a rare opportunity for Rancho Santa Fe residents to experience the full 82-person orchestra in an intimate setting.

The Village Church has been a pillar of the Rancho Santa Fe community for more than 60 years, and the Symphony has been a leadings arts organization in San Diego for more than 100 years, so it only made sense for Weber to bring these two institutions together for the Rancho Santa Fe community.

“It is a collaboration of two wonderful organizations: the Village Church in its role as a spiritual and cultural hub for our community and the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, which has become recognized as one of the top symphony orchestras in the country,” Weber said.

Weber’s love for both music and community has deep roots. His passion for music began in his home state of Colorado during elementary school, where he learned about music for a half hour each day.

“I learned 80 percent of everything I know now about music then,” he said.

While Weber did not become a musician himself, these childhood lessons instilled a great passion for music that has remained with him throughout his life and led to his decision to become involved in the local arts community when he moved to San Diego County. Weber has been a Symphony board member for nearly three years and currently serves on the Education Committee, so he can be involved in music programming for children and instill the same passion that he discovered at a young age.

Weber has called Rancho Santa Fe home for 20 years and wanted to bring the gift of music closer to the Rancho Santa Fe community, for those who don’t always make the trip to the downtown San Diego’s Jacobs Music Center, which has housed the Symphony since the 1980s. He wants to share his love for this local organization with his friends and neighbors.

“This is a great community – it’s a community with a capital ‘C’,” he said.

Weber believes the intimacy of the Village Church will be a special experience for concertgoers.

“We’ve all been to concerts in the Jacobs Music Center, but here (at The Village Church), we’ll be surrounded by music,” he said. “Being on stage during the Partner with a Player concert was a wonderfully enriching experience, and I hope people will be able to experience that closeness at the Sanctuary.”

The Village Church is not only Rancho Santa Fe’s spiritual center, but also a hub for the arts. The Church hosts concerts twice a year in its Sanctuary space; recently hosting the St. Olaf College Choir and Concordia College Choir.

The Church’s existing relationships with the San Diego arts community made it easier to bring the Symphony to Rancho Santa Fe. The Church occasionally hires musicians for its performances and has previously worked with violinist and associate concertmaster Wesley Precourt, among other local musicians.

Director of Music Ministries Juan Acosta was an advocate for the Symphony’s performance at the Village Church. Acosta had previously worked closely with Symphony Production Manager Paige Satter in the community. Acosta knew this was an unmissable opportunity for the Church.

“This is a mutually beneficial experience. We want to cultivate an appreciation for live and classical music here in Rancho Santa Fe – and we want to be seen as a place where we value the arts,” Acosta said.

This post was written by Kelly Hillock, marketing assistant for the San Diego Symphony.